My take on the political situation in Belgium

Protest calling for the politicians to get their act together

As a former student of Politics, Belgium is really interesting. It has multiple elected bodies that have authority over different aspects; not only the Federal Government but three Language Communities, and three Regions as well. It also now has the record for going the longest time without a Government, beating even Iraq, as one has yet to be formed after the June 2010 elections, and it no longer seems implausible that Belgium will actually split into two. I've talked a little about this already, but its very difficult to understand, let alone explain. But, because so many people back in NZ asked me about it, here's my take on things - sorry it's so long!

On the surface, it seems like it all comes down to separatism, with the two sides hating each other and refusing to work together. What I had heard before I lived in Belgium was that the Flemish side were richer and saw themselves as harder-working and no longer wanted to pay high taxes towards the welfare money of the lazier french-speaking side.

Unlike Switzerland, which has two different and geographically separate language/cultural groups but has a collective identity and shared history, Belgium has no history of being a unified country. The area of Belgium was ruled at various points in history by the King of France, the Holy Roman Emperor, the King of Spain, the Austrian Hapsburgs, and the King of the Netherlands. It was only in 1830 that the Belgian Revolution took place, and Belgium became an independent country, officially catholic and french speaking.

'Communities' in Belgium

Back in the 1800s speaking French was required to belong to the upper class, and those who only spoke Dutch made up the lower classes. During this period, the Flemish half of Belgium was much poorer than Walloonia, and retained Dutch as it's main language while the rest of the country cemented French as their main language. There is also a small German-speaking population, in the area annexed from Germany after WWI. The Flanders region has the biggest population, around 6 100 000, Wallonia has about 3 400 000 and Brussels 100 000.


Belgian politics is currently based on the seperation of powers to three different types of body:
1. Federal Government
2. Language Communities (The Flemish, French and Germany speaking communities)
3. Regions (the Flanders, Walloon and Brussels-Capital region)

'Regions' in Belgium

So, there would be seven elected bodies ruling Belgium, except the bodies of the Flemish language community and Flanders region merged (typical germanic/dutch efficiency versus crazy roman buracracy of the french-speaking side!) making it six. Brussels kind of causes problems for this system. Most people there speak French, so its like a little French island in the middle of Flemish-speaking Flanders, but its actually offically bilingual, so while it is a region of its on, Brussels falls into both the Flemish and the French language communities. Also, while the German-speakers have their own language community, they don't have their own region, instead being a part of Walloonia. You can see these discrepancies on the handy wikipedia maps.

Protest by Flemish separatists

The Federal Government looks after things like justice, foriegn affairs, a large chunk of health care policy, defense, money stuff, social security, and public companies like the Belgian Post and Belgian Railways. The Language Communities have authority to control education, culture stuff like the media and assistance to immigrants, and some bits and pieces like protection of young people, some health policy, some social welfare. Regions control things related to territory, like transport (there is one bus company for the whole of Flanders and another for Walloon), housing, energy, employment and foreign trade. Confusing huh? Its made even more confusing by the fact that some things are split between the different bodies, like the language communities rule on their own educational policy, except that the federal government rules on mandatory aspects like minimum years of education and minimum standards to get a qualification.

Protestor calling for unity 'stop the political circus'

Belgium has a federal parliament with a Senate and Chamber of Representatives, with a small cabinet. Everything must be proportional, with an even split of French and Flemish-speaking politicians. The Prime Minister can be either, but for the last 30 years has always been Flemish.

Over the years, politics has become more and more seperated, with the main parties splitting into Flemish and French-speaking branches that represent the main interests of the different communities, so there is a Flemish Liberal party, and a French-speaking Liberal party, and so on. Since 1999 the governments have been large coalitions of multiple Flemish and French-speaking parties, like the 'Rainbow Coalition' of six, the Flemish and French-speaking Social Democrats, Liberals and Greens.

And this is where the big problem becomes apparent. The problems in Belgium aren't so much about two linguistically and culturally different groups not working together, it's all about the ideological difference, with the Flemish population and the French-speaking population wanting to take the country in a different direction. Walloonia is very left-wing, like other Roman states (ie France, Spain, Italy) wanting an almost socialist state with a lot of control and huge welfare provisions. Flanders is very right-wing, like other Germanic states (Germany and the Netherlands) wanting personal and market freedom. These voting tendencies have heightened in recent years, and now with the majority of Flemish politicians voted in being right-wing, and the majority of French politicians voted in being left-wing, they are struggling to come to an agreement.

Growing separatism - the french words in the dual-language sign crossed out

As the politicians fight it out, people here are becoming more and more frustrated. There have been some protests attended by people from both Flanders and Walloonia calling for unity and cooperation, but there are also an increasing number of protests from frustrated people who are calling for the country to split, and polling shows more politicians that lean towards a separation will be voted in when the country next votes. When I came here in February, everyone insisted that Belgium could not split. Now we're in July and people are not talking about if it will split, but about when and what will happen to Brussels. French-speaking friends of mine who have attended the Werchter Festival in Flanders said that this is the first year that they were constantly abused by everyone around them for speaking French instead of Flemish. For over a year now, there has been no government to make new laws or reforms, and now the EU is talking about Belgium being next in line for economic collapse. It really feels like the country is tearing itself apart.

Please note that this is just my take on things, based on what I've read in the news over here and heard from everyone I've asked, so some of what I've said might not be accurate. Thanks Reuters for the photos!